Thor the Golden-haired and the Three Giants
by ArgentNoelle
Summary: One day long ago, before Thor had been gifted his mighty hammer, he was in the mood for an adventure...


One day long ago, before Thor had been gifted his mighty hammer, he was in the mood for an adventure. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the wind was crisp with a hint of autumn. Adventures, of course, are always best shared with others, so Thor decided to ask someone to accompany him on his journey. His first thoughts were of his friends, the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Thor came first to the house of Volstagg, and knocked. Volstagg came to the door, and through it Thor could see firelight and smell the smoke and food within, and he could hear the sound of laughter and talking, for Volstagg was spending the afternoon with his family.

"Friend," Thor called. "Look at the sky! Feel the wind! Is it not a marvelous day for an adventure?" But even as he spoke Volstagg shook his head. "Right now I am in the mood for family, not adventure—but perhaps you would like to spend the evening in my hall? You know you are always welcome."

Thor grinned. "Thank you, but no. Today I am going to go questing." And he left the light and warmth of his friend's house and continued on his way.

The next person Thor found was Fandral. Fandral was not in his house, but walking with a number of charming maidens, flirting and laughing with each of them.

Thor greeted him cheerfully, but saw at once that his hopes were slim. "Fandral! It is a nice day, is it not?"

"Indeed it is," answered his friend magnanimously. "Myself and these ladies here were just about to spend the evening together."

"I don't suppose you would like to go on an adventure?" Thor asked.

Fandral laughed. "Ah, I think I have enough of an adventure for the moment."

So Thor bid his friend farewell and kept on his way.

'Perhaps' he thought, 'I should go to Hogun next. Surely _he_ would never say no to a battle or two.'

So Thor sought out his friend Hogun, but he was entrenched in his rooms. "Thor!" he said when he answered the door. "Why are you here?"

"I had thought you might be in the mood for an adventure," Thor began, but Hogun lowered his eyes. "Of course I will always go with you if you want me to," he said. "Do you mean to go now?"

"Are you busy?" Thor asked, realizing at once that Hogun was staring longingly into his house, where many candles were set up around parchment and ink.

"I was engaged," Hogun said diplomatically.

"In that case, carry on," Thor said hurriedly.

"Are you sure—"

"Yes yes, quite sure."

"All right," Hogun said, and closed the door.

Thor stared at the gilded surface for a moment in frustration. Curses that each of his friends would be busy!

But he continued on his way to find the Lady Sif. He looked in the sparring ring, but she was nowhere to be found. He asked where she might be, and was told she was spending time with her friends.

"Her friends?" Thor asked. "Who?" He knew for a fact that she was neither with Volstagg, nor with Hogun—certainly not with Fandral, and obviously she was not with him.

Apparently, Sif actually had some friends who were girls. Thor decided discretion was the better part of valor in this case. He would hate to barge in where he was not wanted. It seemed that Sif, too, was unavailable.

Thor sighed and began to walk until he came to his brother's door. He stood there for a long time and then decided to knock. "Loki!" he called.

The answer was not long in coming. "What is it _now_? I'm busy!"

"Are you sure you don't want to go on an adventure—"

"How many times have I told you, adventures are boring."

"But—"

"Maybe later," Loki relented.

"But I want to go on an adventure _now_," Thor complained.

There was a dull thud in the room. "Ask one of your friends."

"I did."

"And I suppose they were all busy?"

"Yes," Thor answered. He thought this must be obvious. Why else would he be asking his brother to join him on an adventure?

"So I'm a last resort now?"

"No—of course not—I just thought you wouldn't want to come, and you _don't_, so I was right."

There was a long silence. Thor was just about to turn and leave when there was another crash. He hesitated. "Are you all right?"

"Perfectly fine," the reply came. "And I'm not going, so go away."

In the end, Thor had to leave on an adventure himself. It was still the perfect day to go questing—the sky was clear, the sun was warm, and the breeze was soft and cool. Thor forewent a horse and instead set off into the woods on foot. He traveled for some time, but nothing happened. Adventures were avoiding him today.

Thor kept walking. Soon the sun began to shine lower through the trees, and the air was light with gold. Thor walked and walked, and the woods grew deeper and darker around him. The trees came taller and thicker, until Thor felt very small under their branches. But he would not turn back until he had an adventure.

The sun was lower still, and the air became chill. Thor began to shiver in his light clothes. Dark moss turned to ice, and still he went on. The trees began to look ghostly in the wan light of the moon, and Thor grew tired and hungry. But still no adventure presented itself.

It was quite late now. Thor had to walk slow and careful to avoid tripping on great roots, and his boots slipped on ice and crunched in snow. His feet were becoming quite cold and wet, and he was getting annoyed. This was no adventure!

But right then, just as Thor was about to turn back, he spied something through the trees. It was dark, and tall, and made of stone and ice. Coming forward, he saw a small castle before him, in a wide clear glade.

'Now this is more like it,' Thor thought, and walked up to the gate. He pounded on the door with his fists but there was no reply. Thor scowled. He was really annoyed now. What kinds of people would leave a lonely traveler out in the cold?

Thor walked around the castle, thinking to peer in the windows, but they were so high up he could hardly look through even grabbing onto the sill with his fingers and standing on the tips of his toes. Thor caught a glimpse of a tall table within, but there was no one to be seen.

He walked back to the front of the castle and gave the door a hard kick. To his surprise, at that the gates flew open—they had not been locked at all. Curious, Thor walked in.

The first room was the one he had seen from the window. The table was large, but not so large he couldn't look over the top. He saw, sitting there, three bowls. They were filled with a strange-looking food but it did not look unpleasant, and anyhow his stomach was growling at the smell. Thor grabbed the nearest one with only a twinge of guilt. 'Well,' he thought, 'If someone is going to leave their doors open while they go out, it is their fault if someone comes in and takes their food.'

Thor scooped a big bite with the spoon and swallowed it down—but then his eyes began to water, and he coughed, leaving the spoon lying in the bowl. It was spicy!

Thor glared at the strange substance. He was very hungry, but he didn't think he could eat the rest of the stuff if it was all so spicy. But perhaps the next bowl…

He tried it more warily this time, taking only a bit at the end of the spoon. And it was a good thing, for he almost gagged at the taste. The food in this bowl was horrible and bitter. Thor set the spoon down and watched it slip into the goop.

Then he stood there, shivering. Truly, whoever lived here was very strange.

And yet he was still hungry, so finally Thor gave in and leaned over the third bowl. He gave a small sniff. It smelled all right. He took the third spoon and dipped it in, then brought it carefully to his mouth… and it was delicious! Thor smiled, and began to eat. He was so hungry he ate the whole bowl. It was much smaller than the other two, and almost enough to make him feel full.

It was then that Thor noticed his aching feet. He had been walking through the forest all day, and now he would like to rest a bit before moving on. So he walked through the castle until he came to a room with three chairs. They were not sitting around a fire but a window, and cold air whipped through in sheets, but Thor was adamant. He would sit down if it killed him.

The first chair was big. Very big. Indeed, it was big enough for a giant. Thor was quite sure that was where he had ended up—a giant's house. He could not climb up onto the seat, however he tried.

The second chair was lower, but the seat was hard and uncomfortable. Thor tried to settle himself into it without much success, legs hanging into the air. He felt quite silly sitting like this.

But then he spied the third chair, sitting off in the corner of the room. It looked to be more of a normal size, and Thor slipped off the middle-sized chair hastily and ran over to it. He sat down and leaned back, and the chair was just right—his feet touched the floor and the seat was very nice. But the cold was still coming in through the window, and Thor began to shiver even more now that he was still.

Eventually the delight of the chair was outweighed by the discomfort of the room, so he got up and moved about, trying to find someplace with four whole walls. And he found what was obviously a bedroom.

The first bed was huge, quite big enough for him, his brother, and all his friends to lie in. Thor clambered onto it, but the head of the bed was too high, and he felt as though he would slip right off. He didn't want to get out from under the covers, but he did so, and went to the next bed. This one was not as big—though still quite so—and he got up more easily. But on this bed, the foot was too high! He felt like he would fall right off.

Thor grumbled and slipped out, finally coming to the third bed. This one seemed a normal size, and he fell in easily. He pulled the covers about him and was so comfortable that he went to sleep at once.

In his dreams, Thor heard something—it was almost like the far-off sound of thunder. He looked around but there was no cloud in the sky.

The thunder faded, but then a voice came—soft and far-away, as though hidden behind a curtain. Thor looked behind all the corners, but no one was there.

Then another voice came, but this one was loud, and angry, and very very near!

Thor sat up in bed to find himself face to face with three frost giants. One was very tall, the other less so, yet still towering over him—but the third, the one who had last spoken, was almost his height, and looked like no frost giant he had ever seen. It's head was shaped different, its skin was paler blue, and it had hair.

Thor couldn't help staring, but he scrambled out the side of the bed. He had no weapon to defend himself, but the wall behind him had yet another open window. With one look at the drop, and another to the furious faces behind him, Thor leapt right out and tumbled to the ground below.

There was a sharp pain in his leg but Thor pulled himself up and began to hobble away. Soon he could run at an almost normal pace, and he raced into the forest before the giants could follow. It was morning now, and the sun was out.

Before the end of the day, Thor had emerged from the forest once again, and made his way back to Asgard. His friends were waiting. "Where were you?" they asked.

"On an adventure," Thor answered. "I found three frost giants living in the forest."

"Really?"

"Yes, in a castle. Most of their food was horrible, and all the rooms had windows. It was very cold."

Loki looked at him skeptically. "Really, Thor," he said. "I don't believe you had an adventure at all."

"I wouldn't make it up!" Thor said.

But Loki shook his head. "You know very well it is not possible to just _walk into_ Jotunheim."

"Well…" Thor said. It was true. He hadn't thought of that before. "Well, that's what happened," he finished. But he could see that no one believed him.

This was why adventures were better with a group, he thought as they all trailed over to the courtyard. There were never questions of whether it could have happened or if you were making it all up.

.

.

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End file.
